That Path to Peace
by Sal-91
Summary: The Shinobi village system never quite worked out, and only seemed to have made things worse for the elemental nations. What will the child of Prophecy do in a world where not even fools dare to dream of peace? StrongNaruto, AU. Pairings undecided, not Yaoi though, that's for sure.


Prologue

These were dark times for Konohagakure. The pouring sky themselves seemed to be mourning the loss of the lives of the shinobi who had given away their lives for their home. They were not only Loyal shinobi, but friends, loved ones to not a small number of people. And most of all, perhaps, they were irreplaceable to the ones who were dear to them the most.

They were the children of Konoha, as well. And Konoha, was truly sorry to lose them, despite its necessity.

Peace was a ridiculous notion to most. That wasn't a surprise, however. It would be rare, more like impossible, to find someone who had experienced it. There were few who even dreamt of it, for not only has this continuous fighting foregone their hearts of any hope for peace, but the last man who was seen as capable as many to bring it about had led the world into further darkness.

The Shodai Hokage's vision of peace didn't bring about peace, but a larger amount of wars. Clans and villages now had a substantial amount of weaponry and resources they could depend on to fuel wars and with the support of their greedy feudal lords who all just wanted more money and power, it made things even worse.

As everyone watched as people went by to give their final farewells to the deceased, all dressed in black, with no visible protection from the harsh downpour, for they no longer cared on top of the Hokage Tower, no one wondered when this would end, just that it had to for the sake of their Village. That lives had to be sacrificed, and one day, it would be their time to do what must be done, to keep their home safe.

"This...This is our fate, Uzumaki Naruto. This is the way things shall always be. There shall always be a war to fight tomorrow. You must realize this now, despite your worthiness, you still cling to your foolish belief that there is Peace. Despite your increasing strength in battle, you will always be an utter fool otherwise." Hyuga Neji remarked, standing next to the mentioned Uzumaki Naruto clad in black formal robes one would wear to a funeral, blank white eyes staring upon the scene of the final segment of people giving their farewells to the fallen.

Naruto's beliefs weren't unknown to his friends. It wasn't often brought up, but the criticism and ridiculousness of his idea wasn't always suppressed, although many of them wanted the fighting to stop, they couldn't fathom of a way that it could be brought into fruition. And as they grew older, the more it seemed to be an unrealistic fantasy.

He gave his friend an irritated glance. It wasn't that he thought any of his friends or comrades lesser than him, but he always did pride himself for atleast being able to believe in it, even though it didn't seem to be too possible any time soon, or ever.

"One of the reasons as to why we fight and train so hard is so that we can increase our chances of living for a longer time, if that isn't a sign that fate can be changed, I really don't know what more to tell you, Neji." He really wasn't in the mood for his fate nonsense.

His response was met by a scoff, as it was always.

'You may say what you want, Neji...but I know you want it as well, for your family and your friends. I know you all do.' Naruto thought, in sad assurance, knowing that his friends had lost the will to even believe in their dreams.  
He looked up into the sky as the clouds finally stopped pouring, when the people around him started leaving the funeral area, some still mourning, others preparing themselves for whatever they may have to face when the time comes, which, in these times of war, could be any minute from now.

'If there is a peace, I will find it...I won't give up. This world has enough of pain and suffering in it, what it needs is hope. And I _will_ find a way to give them that.' He closed his eyes just as the clouds above him parted and sunlight to shine upon him as though the heavens had finally found someone with the right answer.

'Watch me, World. Uzumaki Naruto never breaks his promises.' With his heart fuelled with purpose and desire and his blue eyes burning with an intense fire, he looked upon the horizon and dreamed about freeing the world from despair.

"Believe it." He exclaimed, feeling better than he did in a long time.

* * *

My take on the Shinobi Wars challenge, I don't really know whether I should be mentioning that or not, because I didn't'ask him if I could, and also because I've changed the Title of the story.

So yeah, there's a lot of stuff to have fun with in this concept, as you may have guessed, Hashirama's plan hadn't exactly proved to be the greatest idea ever, quite the contrary, actually. Everything else will be cleared up, don't worry. I've put some thought in this, hopefully I'll be able to muster up the energy to write alot more, I hope I do, this is actually pretty cool.  
Until then, Ja ne.


End file.
